


A Reason to be Good

by Lokkish



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Family, What makes up a family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-19 09:42:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9433700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokkish/pseuds/Lokkish
Summary: What would Danny’s life look like if Vlad had raised him instead?





	1. Hello, My name is Miss. Dolores Wattertucken.

**Chapter 1: Hello, My name is Miss. Dolores Wattertucken.**

The accident that the poor three year old girl had endured couldn’t have been more minor in her parents minds. A little trip landed the girl with a small gash on the head when she whacked it against a lab table. Nothing to major, the girl was deemed fine by the Doctors when they rushed her to the hospital and they put six stitches in, but Child Protective Services didn’t see it the same way. They put the Fenton household under a microscope after a ‘Concerned Citizen’ had called them with worries about the families new infant son being in the ‘house of horrors’ with those ‘Mad Scientists’, and with the three year old girl getting hurt on top of that it was decided someone should at least give the house a look.

“Hello, my name is Miss. Dolores Wattertucken, I’m with the Child Protective Services.” Greeted a lovely woman that couldn’t have been older than 25. She stood in the doorway of the Fenton household in a business suit, hair tied up in a loose ponytail, and a large bag hanging off her left shoulder. She greeted Mr. and Ms. Fenton with an outstretched perfectly manicured hand. 

“Jack Fenton,” The large burly man greeted enthusiastically as he took the more petite’s woman’s hand in greeting, loosening his grip when he saw her give a wince at his strong grip. His wife kept behind him while holding their infant son, slowly rocking back and forth to keep him calm. 

“Madeline Fenton,” The woman said giving the Social Worker a curt nod which Dolores returned.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Dolores started. “I was sent because we got a call from a Concerned Citizen, they are worried about your baby’s living state.” Dolores noticed how the mother’s grip tightened and the father moved slightly to block her view of the small child. “Now there is nothing to worry about, we get these calls all the time and usually they are just nosey neighbors being concerned with nothing.” Dolores continued as calmly as possible trying to put the parents nerves on ease. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble I would like to just have a look around to make sure everything is alright so then we can check you guys off as saying we have checked your household and it all looks fine. Would that be ok?” 

Mr. Fenton looked over at his wife and the smaller woman shrugged her shoulders. Giving the woman a large grin Mr. Fenton opened the door a little wider. “Yeah, I don’t see the harm really.” He said motioning for Dolores to come in. Dolores smiled politely as she walked through the threshold. 

“Thank you very much, this shouldn’t take too long, and I’ll be out of your hair, hopefully never to return.” Dolores joked, but it fell flat as only the mother gave the social worker a small smile. “Well lets see.” Dolores took out a small clipboard from her oversized bag and a pen. “Let's start with the living room shall we?” Mr. Fenton nodded and lead the way with Ms. Fenton taking up the rear, the baby fussed lightly in his mother's arms but was quickly settled when the mother started whispering things to the small bundle. 

_Attentive mother._ Dolores quickly wrote as she looked around the mud room as she was entering the living room. _Odd smell in household, but the house looks clean. Suggestion; get someone in here to look for mold._ As the group entered the living room Dolores grew curious over some steel drums that seemed to ooze fluorescent green in the corner of the room. 

“I’m sorry, what is _that_?” Dolores asked as she pointed towards the drums.

The question made Mr. Fenton beam as he walked over to the drums. “This, my good woman, is Ectoplasm!” He exclaimed opening one of the drums and showing her the content of an florescent green liquid. “My wife and I have been collecting it for _years_ now, and slowly we are getting enough to start building our second Ghost Portal. It’s going to bigger, badder, more ghostly than the fist.” 

“Uh, Jack dear,” Ms. Fenton called out walking over to her husband and giving Dolores a weary glance. “I don’t think Miss. Wattertucken wants to talk about the Ghost Portal.” She beamed at her husband, “Maybe we should make our way to the kitchen.” 

“Actually Ms. Fenton, I’m quite curious about this Ectoplasm? Is that what you called it Mr. Fenton?” Dolores asked trying to keep the panic from her voice. All that was running through her head was actually along the lines of ‘Ectoplasm, I’ve heard of that before but what is that? It looks radioactive. Ghosts? Portals? What? This was supposed to be an easy run.’ But to freak out on the parents would do more harm than good so she kept her inner turmoil inside and discreetly wrote out _Ghosts & Ectoplasm (Looks Radioactive?)_ on her clipboard. 

“Yup, exactly Miss. Watertucken.” Jack answered excitedly. 

“And what exactly is that?” Dolores asked carefully.

“Well Miss. Wattertucken-” Miss. Fenton started, she seemed to get just as excited as her husband when she saw Dolores actually wanted to know more about their work.

“Dolores please Ms. Fenton.” Dolores interrupted politely.

“Then I must insist on Maddie,” Maddie said with a gentle smile. “Anyways, Ectoplasm is the essence of a ghost. Like we humans are made up of blood, bones, and muscles, ghosts are made up of Ectoplasm.” Dolores saw a young girl walk into the living room. “Oh, Jazz! What are you doing up? You should be resting.” Maddie exclaimed as the young girl walked in. This was obviously the family's three year old daughter that had recently gotten hurt. She still had the bandages that covered her wound wrapped around her head. 

“Yeah, but I heard company,” the young girl Jazz explained as she glanced to Dolores, “I heard you guys talking about ghosts and thought maybe you would want me to look after Danny.”

“Oh how thoughtful Jazz,” Maddie exclaimed, “Yes if you could watch Daniel for a few moments that would be great.” Maddie handed over the infant to her young daughter. Jazz seemed to know exactly what to do with the squirming baby that started to fuss as he was passed to his older sister. Jazz quickly hushed the baby as if she had a lot of practice with the small being and quickly walked out of the living room. _Three year old (Jazz) seems to have a lot of experience with the infant (Daniel)_ was quickly written on the board.  
“Now,” Maddie said as she clapped her hands together that they were free of the infant. “Where were we? Oh yes! Ectoplasm…” The next hour was filled with Maddie and Jack excitedly talking to the social worker all about their research and answering her questions such as: 

“Now is Ectoplasm radioactive?” Apparently not. “Is it I biohazard?” Again, no you could apparently eat it if you wanted to. “What do you do for work, exactly?” Ghost Hunters, they work in their basement. “Can the children get into the work area?” Of course they can there wasn’t anything dangerous in the lab. “Is this the same lab that holds the work table that young Jazz hit her head on?” Unfortunately, yes, but it of course was a freak accident. “Can I see the lab?” Of course!

Walking through the kitchen to get to the lab Dolores paused in her steps for just a fraction of a moment as she took in the disarray that was the kitchen. There was a half dissected toaster on the table right next to what looked like a gun. Surprised Dolores soon noticed that various guns, knives, bazookas looking things, and WHIPS of all things, were strewn throughout the space. Not to mention more of the green ooze drums were also taking up space in this room as well. “Sorry about the mess.” Jack said as he walked towards a door off the kitchen. “The lab is just down here.” Dolores shook her head as she followed the man down. _No obvious concern for child protection when it comes to weaponry._ Went on the clipboard.

Down in the lab Jack and Maddie continues to talk about their obsession with ghosts. Maddie stuck more to the theoretical ideas that the two had while Jack showed Dolores all the experiments and gadgets that they were working on, explaining in detail what each was meant to do and how they worked. Eventually they made it to the back of the basement where the Fentons were working on their crown jewel, the Fenton Portal. “It’s going to be the biggest, and only, Ghost Portal in the World!” Jack exclaimed. The two scientists excitedly talked about ghosts for another 45 minutes before Dolores had to stop them. “I’m sorry but do you know where your children are at the moment.” Dolores asked politely. 

“Oh I’m sure they’re fine.” Jack answered dismissively, “Jazz has a smart head on her shoulders she takes great care of Danny when we are busy.” Jack didn’t seem to think anything was wrong with this answer, Maddie on the other hand seemed to look a bit sheepish. 

“Um, it’s about 1pm now, I’m sure Jazz is upstairs feeding Danny, it’s about his lunchtime.” Maddie said confidently. _Obsession with Ghosts seems to overshadow any concern for the children,_ was written on the board as the parents started to take Dolores back upstairs. Once back up stairs Dolores noticed more about the kitchen that she had missed the first time as she was distracted by the blatant display of weaponry. Messy dishes were stacked almost to the ceiling, the fridge looked like it had a food fight with itself, there were three bags of just trash sitting near the back door. All of this went on the clipboard. To top it all off Jazz was not in fact in the kitchen feeding Danny. 

“Jazz?!?” Maddie called out as she walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Jazz have you fed Danny yet?!?” Only to be answered by a baby starting to cry. Little feet came running to the top of the stairs.

“Shush! I just got him to sleep!” The little girl called down only to turn quickly and run to what Dolores assumed was the baby room to quiet him down. 

Maddie shrugged as she turned toward Dolores. “Danny usually sleeps after he eats.” She explained. “Is there anything else you need to see?” She asked politely. 

Dolores couldn’t help but stare at Maddie for a moment too long in disbelief before she collected herself. “Um, yes. If I could check the back yard, the main bathroom, and potentially the children's rooms that would be great.” Maddie smiled as she led the way to the back yard. _Three year old child (Jazz) seems to have too much experience in taking care of the infant (Daniel) than her age should allow._ was written on the board. 

The back yard was an even bigger mess than the whole house combined. It could be argued that there wasn’t even a yard. It was just steel drums filling the space inside a large wooden fence. Drum after drum filled with the sickly green Ectoplasm. _Even if Ectoplasm is safe, there is just too much for any sane person to be comfortable with in this house._ was written on the board.

The main bathroom was relatively clean, but Dolores did take note that there seemed to be a lot of recently dirtied rags in the trash bin with a distinct smell of cleaning chemicals still lingering in the air, and there was another drum of Ectoplasm in the room.

They then made their way to young Daniels room. While overall the picture perfect baby room Dolores was quick to note it did not in fact have a sleeping baby in it. “I thought Jazz said he was sleeping.”

“Oh, Jazz lets Danny nap in her room. She says she likes to keep an eye on him.” Jack explained smiling. “She’s a thoughtful one, our Jazz.” Dolores made a noncommittal noise as they made their way to Jazz’s room. 

Jazz was laid out on her floor playing with her little brother with some blocks. She was stacking them up four high so far and the baby would make excited noises as he watched his sister, she would over dramatically stack each block with funny faces of concentration. Eventually, by the time she got to the fifth block the baby got too excited and hit the blocks knocking the whole structure over. The little girl would over dramatically portray dismay at the tumbling blocks and the baby would laugh even harder at his sister's antics. 

The adults watched for a while until Daniel noticed them at the door. He immediately made babbling noises at his mother and grabby hands obviously asking to be picked up. Maddie was quick to comply, as she quickly walked over and picked up her small child. 

“Hey baby,” Maddie said. “How was playing with your big sister?” She asked nuzzling the small child's nose with her own. Daniel let out a large laugh at his mother and started babbling to her as if trying to communicate what the two siblings had been up to all day. Maddie just hummed and rocked her child back and forth. 

The mother and child interaction was very touching, but when Dolores looked down at Jazz she noted how the young girl was staring at her with what almost looked like dismay. It seemed as if the young girl was aware of Dolores’ thoughts on the children's living situation so far and was trying to communicate with her about changing he mind on the whole situation. 

“Would you two mind if I talked to young Jazz alone for a moment?” Dolores asked. 

Jazz look a bit startled for a moment and the two parents looked a bit taken aback. “Um,” Maddie started as she looked towards her husband. Jack just shrugged. “I guess I don’t see why not.” Maddie answered. “Jazz, is that ok with you?” Her mother asked.

Jazz looked towards the floor. “Yeah, I guess that’ll be alright.” She answered after a moment.

“Ok, we’ll be down in the living room if you need us.” Jack said as they both moved out of the room and quietly closed the door. 

The two inhabitants of the room just stayed as they were for a moment. Then Dolores took a deep breath, gave a small sigh and looked around for a place to sit. 

“You can sit on my bed if you want to.” Jazz offered politely. 

“Thank you Jazz,” Dolores said as she carefully made her way over to the bed and sat down. “Would you mind joining me?” She asked as she patted a space next to her. Jazz slowly got up and sat down in the indicated spot without taking her eyes off the floor. “So Jazz-” Dolores started after a moment before she was interrupted. 

“Don’t take my baby brother away.” Jazz said quietly. 

“Jazz-”

“I know it doesn’t look great, and I know I got hurt, but it was really my own fault. They told me not to run in the lab, and I didn’t listen.” The little girl started to explain. “It's not their fault, they’re really good parents, they try really hard. They’re just forgetful sometimes.” 

Dolores lightly put a hand on the small girl's shoulder. “Jazz, I’m not here to take away your brother.” She explained gently. “I’m just here to check on you and Daniel. I just want to make sure the two of you are safe. The worse I’m going to do today is write up a report and send it to my bosses-”

“And then you’ll come back and take Danny away from me.” Jazz said dismayed. 

“Jazz-”

“Well that’s what happens in the movies, right. The social worker says they’re just looking out for the kids and then they take them away from their mom and dad, away from each other, and the kids are expected to live happy lives away from the people who actually love them.” Jazz cried. “You can’t take Danny away from me, I’m a good older sister. I watch out for him. I make sure he get plenty of food, rest, I change him when he needs to be changed, I give him baths, and we play together all the time. He’s never sad as long as I can make him happy, and I’ll always watch out for him and make sure he’s safe and healthy.” Jazz exclaimed passionately trying to get Dolores to understand that she is the best thing for Daniel.

“Jazz, it’s just not that simple.” Dolores tried to explain. “You’re a little girl Jazz. I do not deny that you want what’s best for Daniel, and that you want to protect him, but that is not supposed to be your job. You aren’t supposed to be Daniel’s parent, his parents are supposed to be his parents. They are the ones that should be watching Daniel, making sure his house is safe, taking him baths, clothing him, feeding him, keeping dangerous objects away from him. These things should not fall on you, as you are still growing, and you are way too young to be taking on the responsibilities of a parent for young Daniel.”

Jazz just shook her head. “No, you don’t understand no one understand Danny like I do. Me and Danny we have a connection. If you take him away you’ll be taking away the only person who understands him, the only person who can care for him.” Jazz said as tears fell from her eyes.

Delores signed once more. “Jazz my object was not to make you start crying I’m sorry about this. I must admit I’m surprised as you seem to understand better the precarious situation your family seems to be in better than your parents do, but now tell me. What is it like living here, do you have anything you want to tell me?”

“Living with mom and dad is amazing. There couldn’t be any better parents.” Jazz said simply. Dolores wasn’t surprised by the response, the poor child was terrified that Delores was going to leave with her baby brother, so she would never have given Dolores any reason to believe that the Fenton household was anything less than perfect. _Jazz is terrified to lose her brother. She is the obvious main caretaker of the infant._

“Thank you very much Jazz, I’ll keep in touch with your family. Please believe me when I say that I want nothing but the best for both you and your brother. I promise you that.” Jazz didn’t even acknowledge that Dolores had even said anything. “Goodbye Jazz.” Dolores said as she got up and left the room.

Dolores made her way down to the living room where the parents were waiting. “Well I must be going now, it was very nice to meet you both. Dolores said stretching her hand out to shake with Jack.

“It was our pleasure Miss. Dolores.” Jack said enthusiastically.

“Thank you for stopping by.” Maddie added as the couple walked Dolores to the front door.

“There will probably be a notice that will come by that will talk about how this went. I suggest you don’t ignore it. Have a good rest of your day.” Dolores said as she made her way out of the house thinking, ‘What a day. A routine drive by turns out to be one of the more interesting cases I have yet to embark on in years.’ Dolores entered her car and then sighed loudly and ran her hands through her hair. She looked over the notes she had written out. 

_~~Attentive mother.~~ Correction: Moderately to Low attentive mother_  
_~~Odd smell in household, but the house looks clean. Suggestion; get someone in here to look for mold.~~ odd smell is the gallons upon gallons of Ectoplasm that takes up residence within the house, no need to check for mold but do suggest that someone comes to take a sample of the Ectoplasm to deem the safety measure that should be taken into consideration._  
_Ghosts & Ectoplasm (Looks Radioactive?) Apparently is not radioactive but testing should be done to make sure._  
_Three year old (Jazz) seems to have a lot of experience with the infant (Daniel)_  
_Ectoplasm is not a Biohazard, you could apparently eat it if you wanted to._  
_Work: Ghost Hunters, with a basement lab. Lack of concern for Dangers in lab allows for children to explore the area. Lab is where young three year old got her head injury, “freak accident” according to parents._  
_No obvious concern for child protection when it comes to weaponry. Additional Note: Kitchen itself could possibly considered a biohazard._  
_Obsession with Ghosts seems to overshadow any concern for the children._  
_Three year old child (Jazz) seems to have too much experience in taking care of the infant (Daniel) than her age should allow. Additional Note: This observation was made in more than the two instances being portrayed while on the visit._  
_Even if Ectoplasm is safe, there is just too much for any sane person to be comfortable with in this house. Additional Note: Counted more than 20 steel drums full of Ectoplasm in the backyard._  
_Bathroom and Baby room are two of the cleanest rooms in the whole house. Suspected that young Jazz cleaned bathroom before we made it there._  
_Jazz is terrified to lose her brother. She is the obvious main caretaker of the infant._

Dolores sighed. This was the hardest part of the job. By what she saw as long as they took care of the kitchen, put away the weapons, put a child lock on the door leading to the basement, and the Ectoplasm was deemed safe to be around children, there was no reason that a young child couldn’t live in that household. Yeah the parents were a little absent minded when it came to their children but at least Jazz seemed to be able to take care of herself and it would be better for her to stay with her parents than to take her out of the household. 

But the baby Daniel. Now that could be a problem. A three year old child should not be taking care of an infant. Not to mention the presence of the Ectoplasm becomes a hazard just by its existence in the environment regardless of whether or not the stuff was safe enough to consume. One wrong move and the baby could be seriously injured in such an environment, not to mention that if Jazz was the one to care for the child more often than not the risk goes even higher. By Dolores’ visit she just didn’t view it as a safe place for the baby. Of course there would have to be more visits, some suggestions to the parents to get their act together, and some tests done on all that ectoplasm in order to determine the next steps, but if things stayed the way that Dolores saw it today, at the very least young Daniel would have to be taken to a safer location.


	2. Of Course I'll Take Him

_3 Months After Miss. Dolors Wattertucken’s First Visit to the Fenton Household_

Vlad Masters was working in his study ironing out some wrinkles in his newest proposal of a merger between his company Vladco and a recent startup that focused on creating adventure tracking devices, Nixus. It was a small move that he wanted to try out so as to test out his newest ghostly ability, the ability to overshadow other beings. If this nifty trick worked the way he hoped it would it would allow him to be able to get huge corporations to merge with him and potentially to buy a business outright with little to no effort in the negotiation room. That would mean that if all goes according to plan he would practically be giving himself millions upon millions of dollars without even breaking a sweat and it would be 100% legal. 

Granted it’s not like Vlad needed more money. He already practically robbed Fort Knox blind. Well, he would have literally robbed them blind if not for the small fact that when Vlad had actually gotten inside Fort Knox it turned out that the rumors were true and there was actually not an ounce of gold anywhere in the building. Butter biscuits was that a depressing day. 

So Vlad did the next best thing and went to the closest bank and robbed them blind instead. The videos of his robberies were always quite amusing. One moment there would be nothing going on, the next the vault door is being opened without a single soul in sight or sound being made, and then nothing as there isn’t anything more to see. The next day though every safety deposit box in the building would have been emptied. Why safety deposit boxes? Because actual paper money is easily tracked down, so it would have been easier for the police to catch on that it was Vlad doing the robberies. With the safety deposit boxes the valuables could be sold on auction or at a pawn shop easily for good money and without too many questions and practically anonymously, or if Vlad found something particularly scandalous he could bribe the owner and easily make a small fortune.

All in all life was going good for Vlad Masters. Yes he had this horrific ghost disease, but after the Ecno-Acne went away all things considered he never felt better in his life. That did not mean he forgave the buffoon who was the cause of his curse. Jack Fenton would never be forgiven for what he has done to Vlad. At the time of the ‘accident’ Vlad had been staring at some wiring that looked like it might have been loose on the device and instead of waiting till Vlad was out of the way the imbecile that was Jack Fenton thought it would be a good idea to power up the portal with the same bullish gusto that he lived most of his life. 

If Vlad had been in the safety zone that the small group had set up previously, which surprise surprise was where his supposed friends were standing, he would have been perfectly safe and ghost power free living as normal a life as his two friends were now. Instead Vlad was hit with ectoplasm in the FACE! This shouldn't have been a problem as they had assumed that the ectoplasm that they were using was safe but that turned out to be a major laugh. 

Would Vlad be considered half-dead if that stuff was safe? Hardly. He wouldn’t of spent two years of his life in a hospital being poked and prodded, experimented on and basically tortured, if that stuff was in any semblance of the word safe. Going to the hospital with the promise that they would help him showed his naïveté at the time, for he left with a phobia of those sterilized rooms so large that he hasn’t been able to drive by a hospital lately without having major flashbacks of the torture that he was subjected to. 

The ‘Doctors’ at the facility he went to were fascinated by him in a way that Vlad wouldn’t view as healthy. At first it seemed as if Vlad wouldn’t last the week. They seemed to have been convinced that he had been hit with a massive amount of radioactive material, Vlad would have agreed with them if he didn’t know any better. The symptoms he was having was reminiscent of radioactive poisoning. Within the week he was throwing up blood, losing clumps of hair, his skin felt like it was melting off his face, and the delusions he had would haunt him for the rest of his life. 

The torturous experience lasted him a full month and many of the doctors called him a miracle patient for surviving. By the end of the month Vlad was deemed stable, but that meant little to nothing to the doctors because that’s when the real fun started to begin. 

First it was the floating. The first time it happened he woke up to a screaming nurse. He was on the ceiling sleeping peacefully when the screaming woman walked in. The sound startled him out of his sleep and the disorientation of his body shocked him so bad he fell out of the sky and landed on his face. From then on the floating would be sporadic, he had no control when he would float up to the ceiling and when he wouldn’t. Eventually the doctors ended up trying him down to the table so that he wouldn’t float away. 

This also started the experimentation, first it was not terribly invasive. Simple urine test here, blood draw there, temperature checks thought the day as interestingly his core body temperature was steadily rising at an incremental pace. But soon he was able to do things like change his whole body structure into a blue monster, create unstable balls of energy in his hands, go invisible. Each new ability peaked the doctor's interest and soon the tests became more invasive, more painful, more damaging. 

Instead of talking about how they were going to help Vlad the doctors started talking about how they could torture him. ‘How did he change his body like that? Let's have him continue to change back and forth.’ ‘He’s too tired? Let’s shock him till he changes.’ ‘How does he make those energy balls in his hands, lets open his arms up to see if there is anything interesting in there. While we’re at it let's open him up while he’s in his weird alternate ‘ghost form.’’ ‘The boy keep wailing that he’s dead, let's put him on so many meds that it practically knocks him out.’ ‘This invisibility trick he has going on is becoming a nuisance, let's put a tracking devise on him so we can't lose him.’ ‘The boy is becoming a hazard to himself and others, let’s tie him up and make sure he is very much drugged before we move him around.’

This seemed to go on forever until Vlad was able to turn intangible. The first time it happened it shocked Vlad that he would be able to get out of this terrible situation so easily. He almost didn’t believe it would work because it was so easy. But he had enough of the hospital scene and basically stumbling out of the building in a blind panic half afraid it was all a trick. He easily took off the restraining jacket that they put on him and the tracking anklet and just walked through the walls to his freedom. It wasn’t until much later, after he had found some dungy factory building that he could reside in for a while and stole some cash for a hot meal and drink, that he found out that he was in that hell hole for two years. 

The whole ordeal left a major mental scar on Vlad. He was convinced that he was dead and that what he was experiencing was the actual physical hell that religion so fondly liked to spout. He hallucinated terrors of his abusive father and neglectful mother. He was convinced that he was killed a million different ways, just to be put back together and to be split apart a million more ways. The doctors and their masks became monsters, the sterilized room he was kept in became a claustrophobic dungeon, the medicine he was given became poison, and behind it all was a giant fat man smiling away at his demise. 

Jack Fenton was to blame for his demise. Jack Fenton was the one who killed him and then left him in hell to rot. Jack Fenton was the one who ruined Vlad’s life. And Vlad would never forgive him for that. Vlad slowly started putting his life together by finding a job and dealing with his mental instability as best he could. Eventually, when he was able to afford it he was able to get a psycyatrist who was able to show him some coping mechanisms to deal with the worst of the trauma. Granted it didn’t last too long as he could never tell them what was really wrong with him and couldn’t trust them to keep their mouths shut.

When Vlad started to become more sane he went looking for Jack with the intent to kill him, but the fat man was hard to find. All he could find was an old newspaper article that stated that him and Maddie had gotten married right out of college. The news shook Vlad to the core, it was just one more slight that the man committed against Vlad. Jack knew that Vlad had his eyes set on Maddie, the day of the accident Vlad was supposed to ask her out on a date. That day Vlad had even asked Jack what he had thought and Jack was 100% on board with him asking her out. Jack never showed any real interest in Maddie before, but then to steal her away like that after Vlad was gone? What kind of low life monster did that to someone. Who stood there and called you a friend and then not only ruined your life, but took your girl on top of it. The low life Jack Fenton was going to die by Vlad’s hand, he promised himself that.

Granted Vlad’s revenge would have to wait. Jack seemingly went into hiding. Vlad couldn’t find anything on the buffoon after the article about the marriage and he didn’t have the financial means at the time to hire someone else to find him. So that’s when Vlad committed his first bank robbery. 

His first robbery he put a lot of thought into. At the time he somehow luckily got a security job at a relatively large bank. That’s where he learned the trick about stealing from the safety deposit boxes over the physical cash, and a lot of other useful trick that would help him in later robberies. Overall the whole scheme was relatively easy. Wait for a day that he wasn’t on duty, turn into the ghost half of himself that he fondly called Plasmius, enter the bank invisibly with a giant duffle bag, clear out as many safety deposit boxes as possible by using his intangibility trick, and then make your way out of state and sell all you can to the shadiest pawn shop or auction house that you could find. It always helped to sell your wares to someone that wouldn’t ask many questions and even less personal information, but if you did that you better make sure you know what everything is actually worth. The first time Vlad did this he got jipped out of a million dollars as he had no idea what he was holding, it turned out to be a Tiffany & Co piece that to Vlad just looked like some gaudy costume jewelry, he’ll never make that mistake again. 

Vlad only stole from the bank that he actually worked at only once, which was a stupid move on his part for he was instantly a suspect since he just started working at the place. It took Vlad doing the same exact thing in another state for the police to stop harassing him and he could truly enjoy his newfound wealth, and even then it wasn’t truly until he started his business and decided he no longer needed to steal from banks that he truly let loose. Framing some poor schlub for his crimes a year later made sure that no one would be wondering where Vlad Masters got his newfound wealth and his simple explanation that he came into some decent money from a family member to start his own company was never really scrutinized. 

Over the years Vlad became more focused on his new business ventures and experimentation with his powers to remember about Jack Fenton. It took him about half a year after leaving the hospital for him to confidently say that he had control over the powers and the more he experimented the more powers he learned he had. At this point he could fly, shoot blasts out of his hands, turn invisible, walk through walls, turn other things invisible or intangible if he was touching it, create duplicates of himself, create a whip like thing, and now he found out he was able to overshadow other people. He also noticed that some of his ghost powers could transfer over to his human side. Such as his strength, in his ghost form he was predictably very strong, but even as a human he was stronger than average. As time went on Vlad was starting to wonder if there was a limit to the powers that he was gaining. 

Overall it could be argued that life was looking up for Vlad Masters, but that didn’t mean that he was happy. No if anything what it really meant was that Vlad was becoming more and more bitter. There is truth in the saying that money doesn’t bring you happiness. The one thing, the only thing Vlad wanted more than anything in the world was Jack's fat head mounted on his wall and for Maddie to be his wife. The desire was so strong that Vlad feared that it was truly a ghostly obsession as opposed to something he actually truly wanted. 

Vlad new about ghostly obsessions. While studying ghosts he became very intimate with this particular ghostly personality trait. Obsessions are what separate a spirit from a ghost. The obsession could be anything and usually is tied to something to do with the ghosts final moments. He once met a hunter that was shot by his hunting partner while out to catch the world's rarest animal, now he roamed the world looking for the next big hunt. And a lunch lady that died from a heart attack while serving children at her school, now she goes to different schools trying to feed the children. Some days Vlad see’s his desire to kill Jack as nothing more than his own unhealthy obsession that keeps his ghost half tied to this world, another part just doesn’t care what his obsession with killing Jack could mean he just wants to do it. The thought kinda scared Vlad, for now that he was getting better after his ordeal with the hospital he noticed that he really didn’t want to kill anyone. Yes, Vlad wasn’t necessarily a good guy, but he wasn’t a murderer either.

So Vlad tied to keep himself busy, tried to keep his mind off Jack and Maddie. He did not go looking for them, even though he now had more than enough means to. He kept with his focus on his businesses, and with that tried to keep the Fentons out of mind. Unfortunately sometimes it seems that fate just wanted to fuck with you. 

There was a polite knock on his study door as his butler Eduardo walked in. “Mr. Masters, sir.”

“Yes, Eduardo?” Vlad asked trying to refocus on the task at hand after his wondering thoughts were abruptly stopped when his butler walked in.

“There is a Mr. Jack Fenton on the line sir, he says he’s a long time college buddy and he is on your accepted calls list sir. Would you like to take the call?” Vlad froze at the announcement and slowly looked up at his butler.

“What did you just say?” Vlad asked slowly. He couldn’t believe that the buffoon would call him. After five years of zero contact the man finally called him. The need to know why was killing him. The man didn’t even seem to think it necessary to visit him once while he was in the hospital, nor did he even attempt to invite him to his and Maddie's wedding, and now, out of the blue, he just calls him. There must be a reason for it.

“Mr. Fenton, sir. He called and asked for a moment of your time.” Eduardo repeated.

“Did he say why?” Asked Vlad leaning back in his plush desk chair. 

“I’m afraid not sir,” Eduardo answered, “Just kept babbling on about how he needed to talk to you immediately.” 

This highly intrigued Vlad. “Very well Eduardo, I’ll take the call.” Vlad said dismissing his butler. Vlad picked up the phone on his desk and smoothly said a “Hello? This is Vlad Masters.”

‘V-man, Vladdy, oh god I’m so happy I got a hold of you.’ Came Jack’s panicked voice on the other side of the phone.

“Jack, how very...nice to hear from you again after all this time, how’s Maddie?” Vlad continued, not very interested in the man’s plight as much as he’s interested in his own soon to be wife.

‘We’re not doing that great V-man,’ Jack answered sounding stressed. Vlad had conflicting emotions over the news, he was glad that Jack seemed to be going through some hard times, but angry and sad for Maddie probably going through the same amount of stress. ‘They’re threatening to take our kids away Vladdy.’ Jack said sounding like he was on the verge of tears. The sound had a smile spread across Vlad’s face.

“Who’s threatening to take away your kids?” Vlad asked, trying very hard to sound concerned for the blubbering man. “I mean wait you have kids?” Vlad was kinda shocked my the news, Vlad never remembered reading anything about Jack and Maddie having kids three years ago. It must have been a recent development. 

‘Yeah Vlad,’ Jack sounded confused. ‘Jazz and Danny, they’re talking about taking Danny from us.’ He continued sounding like a broken man, the sound was delicious to Vlad’s ears. ‘And seeing as you’re his godfather me and Maddie, we were hoping that you would be able to take him in.’ 

Vlad zoned out for a moment. He was the child’s godfather? _**And they never told him!**_ Who does that, who makes someone the godfather of their child and doesn’t tell the person. Of all the thoughtless things to do! What if he actually couldn’t take the child in, in reality of course he could, but what if he couldn’t, what if he was still a penniless security guard working for some bank? Then what. He might not have been able to take the child in such a situation.

‘Please Vlad.’ Jack begged on the phone, again making Vlad’s desire for vengeance tickle in appreciation. ‘You’re the only person we have that could do it. Will you please take in our boy, he’s so small, he wouldn’t do good in a foster home.’ Jack explained as he cried his heart out. 

“Jack my dear friend.” Vlad said in a voice that was filled with a faux understanding and concern. “I’m sorry I was just taken aback by the notion that I was your son’s godfather you neglected to tell me the great news. Jack of course I will take the young boy in, just tell me what I need to do.”

‘Oh God, thank you, thank you Vlad. I don’t know what we would do without you right now. Thank you,’ Jack started crying in earnest now and was obviously unable to continue the conversation. A new voice like angels on a doves wing came over the phone. ‘Vlad?’

“My dear Madeline, how wonderful to hear your voice, I just wish it was under happier circumstances.” Vlad greeted cheerfully. 

‘So you’l take him, you’ll watch over Danny?’ Maddie asked obviously trying desperately to hold back her own tears. While it sounded like Jack cried on top of her.

“Yes, Madeline, I’ll do whatever you both need me to do, just tell me what it is and I’ll do it.” Vlad repeated, though this time the faux nature that he talked to Jack in was missing.

‘Thank you Vlad. This means the world to us.’ Maddie hiccuped holding back her tears as she relayed the information Vlad would need to get to their house in Amity Park. 

Vlad diligently wrote the information down and told the distraught woman that he would be there tomorrow morning around 10am if that was alright. Maddie agreed and thanked him again before hanging up the phone. When the conversation was over Vlad couldn’t help but lean back in his chair and contemplate his good luck. This was going to work perfectly. Jack was a mess, Maddie must notice what an incompetent buffoon the man must be for losing them their child, and if he could prove to her that he was a much better caretaker for not only her son, but potentially her as well, then she would be sure to see that Vlad is obviously the better man and leave Jack for him. The plan would be perfect, he would have the girl, have a family, and Jack would be utterly heartbroken, a disgrace, nothing more than a losing buffoon. Vlad will show them both that he’s the better man, besides how hard could it possibly be to take care of a child?


	3. You Thought You Knew Them

**Chapter 3: You Thought You Knew Them**

Vlad stood outside of the Fenton household looking at the monstrosity that was their home for about ten minutes before he regained his bearings. Yes he was gawking, but honestly he didn’t know how anyone that walked by the house didn’t. The place was hideous. 

The first thing that was sure to catch your eye was the neon fluorescent sign on the outside of the building. Not only because it was obnoxiously distracting, but also because the thing was massive. It was practically two-thirds the length on the house. It was just downright tacky and it saying Fenton in large blinking letters did absolutely nothing to help the curb appeal.

Once you got over the first eye sore the second wasn’t much better as on top of the, in comparison, relatively small house was a massive structure made of metal. Vlad really had no idea what it could possibly be. It had satellites, wind catchers, what looked like periscopes, and a radio tower on top of an UFO shaped…thing. All together is was a mess of a house. 

Vlad observed the foundation of the place expecting to see cracks in the bricks as evidence of the strain that the massive addition must be putting the building under. Begrudgingly, Vlad had to admit that the foundation looked fine from where he was standing. Honestly he should have not expected less. Maddy would never have kids in a building that she thought would collapse on top of them, she was too much of a worry wort for such a thing. Besides she was probably a proper mother and checked and double checked the engineering that must have gone into the structure that the idiot Jack no doubt designed himself so as to keep her family safe. If it wasn’t for this probable fact Vlad would have refused to enter such an otherwise obviously hazardous place. 

Taking a deep breath Vlad moved forward to go and knock on the door, best to get this over and done with he supposed. Knocking three times Vlad waited. He didn’t have to wait long as for after he knocked he heard some commotion beyond the door, what sounded like a small crash, a muffled expletive, which made Vlad frown slightly, and then there was a jingling of the door knob before the door flew open. He was pleased with the sight as it turned out that Maddie herself was to greet him first. 

“Vlad,” She cried out before moving to give him a hug. The show of affection actually made Vlad a bit uncomfortable, which was a bit odd seeing as this was Maddie hugging him, but he guessed it couldn’t really be helped. Vlad wasn’t one to be overly affectionate with people on a good day ever since his experience at the hospital. At least it wasn’t Jack. 

“Vladdy?” Was called from what Vlad could only guess was the living room before the bumbling idiot came rushing over. “V-Man!” Jack called out before grabbing both his wife and Vlad into a giant bear hug. Vlad panicked a little. It was too much, way too much human contact, and it didn’t help that it was coming from Jack. Vlad quickly shoved Jack off him allowing both Maddie and Vlad to escape the crushing grip. It was only after he gained his bearings that Vlad noticed he might have made a mistake. Vlad had shoved Jack much to hard and he was on his back. 

“Ah,” Vlad started slowly, “Sorry my…old friend.” He continued with a small grimace at the affectionate title. “I do believe you startled me.” Vlad slowly gave Jack a small smile trying to make sure it didn’t come out as a grimace. “It’s been much too long, it’s great to see that you seem to be doing well Maddie.” Vlad finished smoothly, hoping that the two didn’t get their suspicions too hackled over his odd behavior. 

The laugh that erupted from Jack’s mouth as he stood up gave Vlad reason to believe that he should never had worried. “Wow V-Man, I see you still have your old moves.” Jack said smiling widely as he lightly punched Vlad in the arm. Vlad lightly rubbed the spot in a subconscious move to try and get the disgusting man’s touch off of him. 

‘This was a mistake,’ Vlad couldn’t help thinking. He had forgotten how touchy Jack could be and honestly Vlad was in no state of mind to truly deal with it. Later he will blame that on why he ended up snapping at the large man, “I never had any MOVES!” Vlad ended up yelling, “All those years in the hospital robbed me of that!” Vlad quickly regained his head before he let out his ghost side in his sudden rage. Then he quickly looked at his old friends who wore different faces of worry. *Cough* “I mean,” Vlad said trying to remain calm. “What have you two been up to since we departed?” Vlad asked trying to keep cordial and looking specifically at Maddie. Vlad didn’t think he would be able to keep his head straight if he talked to Jack. “You two seem to be doing well. You got … married.” Vlad gave an almost undetectable growl at the mention of the marriage that he hoped the Fenton’s didn’t catch. “And you had kids. That is quite newsworthy.” He stated smiling at Maddie still avoiding looking at Jack. 

Maddie gave a pinched smile. “Yes, we have been quite fortunate.” She said. “Let’s talk in the kitchen why don’t we.” She prompted motioning to the door Jack entered from, which Vlad was correct in assuming was the living room. Jack continued on to the kitchen area, but Vlad couldn’t help but stop in the living room’s threshold. 

Ectoplasm was everywhere. 

Well not technically everywhere as it was only in about ten drums that seemed to take up residence in the far corners of the room, but still this was more than any reasonable person should have out in the open. 

“Vlad?” Maddie called touching Vlad’s arm lightly. Warmth seemed to spread through Vlad’s body starting at the spot. “Are you ok?” She asked as she looked concerningly into his face.

Vlad shook his head lightly and tore his eyes away from the drums of ectoplasm and down to the spot that Maddie was touching on his arm quickly before looking into her eyes. “Yes of course my dear. I am just surprised you both seem to have so much ectoplasm just lying around the house like this.” Vlad said motioning towards the drums. 

Vlad was surprised to see an almost indiscernible scowl on Maddie's face as she looked over at the drums. “Seriously Vlad not you too,” she said dismayed.

“Wha-” Vlad was confused at her tone. Didn’t she notice what a hazard having all this ectoplasm lying around was? Surely she must, not to mention she had children now, she must want to put the ectoplasm somewhere safe just on principle alone. 

“You know that ectoplasm is perfectly safe to be around.” She said with a small huff moving off towards the kitchen. 

Vlad couldn’t help but stare after her. Surely she couldn’t be serious. She must know that wasn’t true. “My dear Madeline, you cannot be serious.” Vlad ejaculated as he went to follow her. “While I will grant you that technically you can eat the stuff, seeing as we did all those absurd tests after Jack had inadvertently ate a sandwich covered in it, you know it's not without its harms.” Vlad pressed as they entered the kitchen, Maddie went to stand by Jack who was seated at the table.

“Common V-Man,” Jack sighed rolling his eyes a bit making Vlad’s hackles rise. “Like we told that social worker that keeps coming over, there is absolutely nothing harmful about the ectoplasm-”

“I was in the hospital for two years after I got hit in the FACE with ectoplasm, you buffoon, and you still want to peddle this idea that ectoplasm is SAFE?!?” Vlad hollered losing his composure. Breathing heavily he saw Jack’s concerned face then Maddie’s shocked one and took a deep breath. “My apologies,” Vlad said calmly keeping his eyes on Maddie, “I shouldn’t have yelled.”

“You were in the hospital for two years after that accident?” Jack asked with sock coloring his voice. Vlad gave him a sideways glare before shrugging as if the topic was nonchalant. 

“Yes, well the situation took sometime to...clear up.” Vlad commented trying desperately not to think of the real reason his stay was two years instead of a couple of months.

“Incredible,” Maddie gasped. The tone she spoke made Vlad flinch, it was the same awe inspired tone that was spoken towards him many times in that hell he was desperately trying to forget. “I wonder why the ectoplasm would have reacted so differently to you as opposed to Jack.” She said contemplating the new information.

Jack looked towards his wife also looking thoughtful in the way only ghost related information could do. “It must have something to do with the portal.” He concluded. “The ectoplasm must have been getting some sort of charge or energy from the portal to the ghost zone.”

“Yes of course,” Maddie said as she held her chin in her hand,”that would make sense as to why it would have such a sever reaction to Vlad.” She stated as she looked up at the man, she didn’t notice or she didn’t care how the man looked paler than before, that he was gaining a very light sheen of sweat on his brow, or that his hands were behind his back to stop them from visibly shaking. “Vlad would you mind telling us what exactly happened to you for those two years?” She asked clinically as if his pain from the situation meant nothing to her. 

Vlad couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. “Well, I must say if you two are so interested maybe you should have come to visit me.” Vlad instantly cursed himself internally for the slip of the tongue, while yes that was how he felt that was not how he wanted this first meeting between ‘friends’ to go. They weren’t supposed to dwell on the two years of hell that Vlad had gone through, Maddie and Jack were not even supposed to even guess that he had been at the hospital that long. And here Vlad was bringing up old wounds by his own volition. 

Jack and Maddie both looked guilty over the slip of the tongue. Jack rubbed the back of his head before he tried to give his non apology, “Look Vlad, we’re sorry we-”

Vlad held up one of his hands to stop him, “Think nothing of it, water under the bridge.” Vlad said with a strained smile, but neither of his friends seemed to notice his discomfort over the topic and looked relieved. “Now let's put this nasty topic behind us and start on different unfortunate news. You said you fear your children are going to be taken away?” Vlad continued as he swiftly crossed the room unbuttoning his suit jacket and sitting down as gracefully as a cat in a chair across from Jack. 

If possible both Jack and Maddie looked even more miserable than before. “Yeah, that’s why we called you here.” Maddie said with tears forming in her eyes. “Dolores, the social worker that has been reviewing our case, she gave us a notice that they are reviewing a proposal to take Danny from us.” The woman said grievously as she sat heavily in a seat next to her husband and put her head in her hands. 

Vlad looked her over with concern. “Well why would they want to do something like that?” He asked, quietly trying to convey empathy to the situation. 

Jack picked up a letter that was laying on the table that Vlad had noticed and handed it over to him. “They say we’re being neglectful.” Jack explained quietly.

Vlad took the letter with a bit of a snap from the man and started to read it over. 

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Fenton,_

_We regret to inform you that you will be under intensive review for the next month and a half (45 days) to investigate Daniel Fenton’s (age 8 months) and Jasmine Fenton’s (age 3 years) living conditions._

_This investigation will be conducted due to suspicions of neglect, unsafe living conditions, and hazardous materials._

_While in normal circumstances we would prefer for the family to stay together while under investigation we must insist that Daniel Fenton be moved to a different residence temporarily while we test the suspicious biohazards within the residence due to his young age._

_If you could please have your son stay with a relative, or close family friend, during the investigation that would be greatly appreciated._

_With best regards,_

_Dolores Wattertucken  
Social Services_

Vlad noticed there was more to the letter on the back as it included some notes on what exactly was being considered hazardous, including 108 drums of ectoplasm and ammunition outside of a safe and within reach of a minor. Vlad couldn’t help raise a brow. “You guys seriously have 108 drums of ectoplasm? And you are keeping ammunition within reach of children?” Vlad asked suspiciously not able to believe it. Surely Maddie at least would not be so careless.

Maddie scoffed. “Ghost weapons, Vlad.” She said in an outraged dismissive tone. “Ghost weapons and ectoplasm are not hazardous at all to children.” Jack put a soothing hand on his wife’s heaving shoulders, looking at her with such care it made Vlad sick.

“Still, it does not seem to matter to the state.” Vlad pointed out putting the letter down. “So you called me to take Danny while they get this squared away?” Vlad affirmed looking his friends over with faux concern. 

Jack sighed and nodded while Maddie didn’t respond. “We have no one else Vladdy, both our parents are gone, and Maddie’s sister, well you’ve met her, not to mention she lives so far away, and her divorce is going more poorly than anyone would like.” Jack said. 

Vlad nodded. “Of course, I would be more than willing to take young Daniel for the time being. I’ll even stay close while the proceedings go on and help where I can, of course.” Vlad offered, not including that his real goal would be to help himself in making sure Jack was miserable during the proceeding months. Vlad smoothly stood from his chair, “Well I guess it would be beneficial to see the children, no?” He ventured.

“Yes, they should be in Jazz’s room.” Maddie agreed as she got up from her seat looking a bit shaken. Vlad moved to help steady her but Jack was closer and helped his obviously ailing wife. Maddie smiled at Jack and they stared at each other, obviously communicating silent support. The display made Vlad queasy. 

“Jazz’s room?” Vlad implored, hoping to refocus the couple. 

“Right,” Maddie said moving away from her husband and leading the way to Jazz’s room closely followed by Jack. “This way Vlad.”

Vlad followed them silently as Jack and Maddie walked close together in an obvious display of support. As they walked Vlad couldn’t help but get angry. How dare these two be so close both physically and emotionally. They’ve had years to gain this obvious sense of familiarity with each other, while Vlad was left to rot. They left him behind and didn’t even think of him until he became convenient to them. Until he was able to provide them with something that they obviously needed. Until they deemed him useful to them. He wondered vaguely how long it would have been until they would have called on him, if ever, if they didn’t need his help with this matter.

Well he would show them, they would regret asking him for help. He would tear their happy family apart. He would make them miserable, they would feel his pain that he had to endure for two whole years before he was able to save himself.  
“Here we are,” Maddie said outside of a door. “Now Vlad please excuse Jazz, I’m sure she’s not going to like that you are here. She sees herself as some sort of guardian over Danny and she’s not going to like that he’s going to be going with you. By the way do you plan on taking Danny today or later this week? I forgot to ask.” Maddie questioned miserably.

“Any time you are ready to part with him I will be ready,” Vlad consoled. 

Maddie nodded before knocking on her daughter's door. “Jazzy bear.” She called as she opened the door.

“Leave us alone,” a small voice growled as the adults walked in.

“Now Jazz, don’t talk to your mother that way.” Jack scolded. “We have someone we would like you to meet.” He said motioning to Vlad. 

Before them was a small girl with flaming red hair pulled back in a head band with the biggest scowl Vlad had ever seen on someone so small. Vlad couldn’t help but smile genuinely at the young girl. She obviously had a firebrand personality like her mother. “Hello Jasmine,” Vlad said outstretching his hand while he crouched to be closer to her eye level. “My name is Vladimir Masters, but everyone calls me Vlad. It’s very nice to meet you.” 

Jazz stared at his hand suspiciously then to Vlad's face and gave him questioning eyes. “Jasmin Fenton,” she said taking his outstretched hand in her small one, “everyone calls me Jazz. Now get out.” 

Vlad couldn’t help but give a surprised laugh, while her parents exclaimed “Jazz!” at her behavior.

“It’s quite alright,” Vlad said waving off the two adults and stood up. He was overly amused at the young ladies personality. “Now Jazz I heard your brother might be in here somewhere.” He said looking around but not seeing the boy. “Yet I do not see him, do you know where he is?” 

Maddie and Jack gave a quiet sound of shock as they noticed that Vlad was right and left to presumably check the boy’s room. Vlad could already tell them that they would not find him there, for Vlad already had young Jasmine’s number. She was the overprotective, overbearing, overly concerned, sister type and she already knew much more about the situation at hand than her age would suggest she should. Young Daniel was somewhere in this room and he was determined to get Jazz’s support in letting him see the boy, if not potentially to also allow Vlad to take the boy permanently, without too much of a fuss. 

“I don’t know where Daniel is,” Jazz said with a huff. 

Vlad smiled gently. “Now dear Jasmine, it’s not good to keep things hidden, especially little boys. Who knows what could happen to him if he’s not being properly watched.” Vlad said smoothly as he moved around the room watching the girl’s reaction. “I know, as the good older sister you are, you couldn’t possibly want anything bad to happen to young Daniel.” He finished, smiling slightly as he saw her give a quick glance to the closet. Meandering over he opened the closet doors and saw a young happy boy sitting on the floor. 

The boy was obviously trying to stay quiet, Vlad presumed because Jazz has convinced him they were playing some sort of game. But when he saw Vlad he gave him the widest smile the boy could possibly give and started laughing excitedly. Vlad stooped down and picked up the small bundle. 

“Well, look at you,” Vlad said with the utmost awe in his voice as he held the boy in his arms. The child was adorable, one of the most beautiful things Vlad had ever seen in a long time. The baby stared at him with large curious eyes and reached for his face while he babbled in his baby talk. Vlad gave the small boy the warmest smile he could. “Aren’t you just adorable.” He exclaimed as the baby happily mapped out his face and laughed at his own baby musings. 

While being hypnotized by the bundle of outright joy in his arms Vlad had forgotten about anyone else in the room until he felt a small foot kick his shin. The assault didn’t hurt, but it did succeed in gaining Vlad's attention. Looking down he noticed that Jazz was hitting him. 

“Put him down.” She cried as she flung her little fists at him. Vlad was mildly amused at the display of sibling affection. He was about to say something to the young girl when her parents came rushing back in.

“Jazz where is- Jazz! What are you doing, don’t hit Vlad!” Maddie exclaimed as Jack went over and picked up their little spitfire. 

“I’m so sorry, Vlad.” Jack exclaimed as he tried to hold on to his wiggling daughter.

“Let me go, let me GO!” Jazz cried out. Trying to get back on the ground, presumably to continue her ineffective assault. “He can’t take him! I won't let him!” Jazz cried in hysterics.

Jack tried to talk to his enraged daughter. “Jazz stop this!” 

“NO!”

At his sister's last cry Daniel started to wail. He had been watching his sister ever since their father picked her up in fascination at first, which quickly turned to concern, and finally the confusing emotions bubbled up making him crying in distress. Vlad was quick to rock the boy and start whispering to him, “Hush now Daniel. Hush now Little Badger it’s all right.” Vlad said knowing that his words were quite ineffective as he tried to turn the poor boy so he wouldn’t see his sister’s struggling in her parents arms. 

“Jack, put the poor child down.” Vlad called over his shoulder to the bigger man, “She obviously can’t hurt me and you’re distressing Daniel.” He said giving Jack a hard glare.

“But Vladdy she shouldn’t-”

“Put her down Jack.” Vlad said in his corporate no nonsense voice that displayed that he was not joking around and that the oaf should just do as he says.

Jack gave a sigh and let his daughter go, who instantly went to Vlad to continue her assault with a small battle cry. It was quite adorable if not a bit annoying.

“Jazz!” Jack called out in reprimand but his daughter ignored him.

“Jack,” Vlad started, “Madeline.” Vlad continued noting that Maddie had not moved during the whole ordeal. Vlad couldn’t help but wonder why she did not instantly try to take Daniel away from him when the boy had started to cry. “ Would you two be so kind as to give me and Jazz a moment? I’m sure I can talk to her.” Vlad said ignoring the small girl who had not stopped trying to hurt him with no success. It was good to note that young Daniel had reduced his cries to small sniffles and gasps, no longer as distressed as he was when he had seen his sister being handled by her father.

“But Vlad-” Jack started, obviously distressed at his daughter's actions.

“It really is no bother,” Vlad interrupted. “I am sure I can make headway with her. If you would be so kind as to close the door on your way out?” Vlad asked dismissively.

Jack sighed again and rubbed the back of his head, “If you’re sure.” 

“Quite sure,” Vlad responded. 

Jack nodded. “Okay, we’ll be in the living room if you need us.” Vlad scowled as Jack lead Maddie out of the room. ‘Living room?’ Vlad thought unnerved. One would assume that they would have wanted to stay a bit closer, their bedroom perhaps? Or maybe not, due to privacy, but Vlad never remembered the pair being all that private, especially when it came to interactions with Vlad himself. 

Vlad was pulled out of his musings by light tug on his hair. Looking down he noticed that Daniel seemed to have forgotten all about the past few moments and was once again investigating Vlad’s features. Vlad smiled down at the boy lovingly. His heart was already entrapped by the boy and the child had yet to even do anything substantial. Just being in the small boys presence brought Vlad more happiness than he’s felt in days. ‘You’re mine, Littler Badger.’

“Stop looking at him like that!” Jasmine yelled from her place near the floor. Vlad looked down at her and studied her for a moment. The young child was breathing heavily obviously still angry that Vlad was here and holding her baby brother. At least she had stopped beating on him.

Vlad gave her a gentle smile, “Stop looking at him like what my dear girl?” Vlad asked seriously.

“Stop-Stop looking at him like you care about him.” Jazz cried out obviously frustrated.

Vlad sighed. “But I do care about your brother Jasmine.” Vlad tried to explain to the young girl.

“No, no you don’t. No one cares about Danny except me. I care about Danny. Not you!” She little girl looked even more enraged than before. She held out her arms, “Give him to me.” 

Vlad raised one eyebrow at the demand. Not even thinking of doing such a thing. Instead Vlad looked around the room for a place to sit. Figuring the bed was as good a place as anything Vlad made his way over and sat down, not even bothering to ask permission as he knew the young girl would not give it at the moment. 

“Please sit with me,” Vlad insisted. 

Jasmine just crossed her arms and looked in the other direction. “No.”

“So be it,” Vlad consented. “Then tell me, why can nobody but you care for Daniel.” Vlad asked slowly rocking the boy as the small boy looked drowsily from Jazz to Vlad. Vlad suspected the boy would be asleep in no time.

“Because, I care about Danny and no one else needs to,” Jazz said as she looked at Vlad with eyes of ice. 

Vlad looked thoughtful for a moment, “Do you really believe that?” He asked slowly. “Do you not wish more people loved you other than your mother and father? Don’t you think Danny would want to be loved more himself than just by you and your parents?” Vlad asked carefully.

Jazz gave a huff and a mumble.

“What was that dear? I didn’t quite hear you.” Vlad stated.

“I _said._ Mom and Dad don’t care about us.” Jazz huffed annoyed that she had to repeat herself.

Vlad gave a noncommittal hum. “Why do you say that dear.”

Jazz just gave the man a look that screamed ‘Are you serious?’ before she gave a loud exhale and raked her small fingers across her face. Vlad swore that this child acted as if she was 10 and not 3, how such a thing was possible Vlad would never know. 

“I mean common, would parents that loved Danny let him be taken away?” Jazz started. “They don’t even look at him some days, they act like he doesn’t even exist most days, and mom rarely even holds him.” Vlad frowned at this new information and looked down at the bundle in his arms. If what Jasmine was saying was in any way true then the poor boy was being neglected, how odd for that to be the case when the boy was so obviously happy.

“I mean I’m the one who takes care of him around here,” Jazz continued as she was now on a roll with her rant and Vlad found it would be more than beneficial to let her continue. “I bathe him,” she said counting off on her fingers. “I feed him, I change him, I play with him, put him to bed, hold him, and well I do everything for him.” She finished with a flair of her arms. “I’m his mom,” she expressed placing her hands on her chest and Vlad couldn’t help but look at her with concern. “And I won’t let you, or anyone else take him away from me because-” tears were streaming down the poor child's face, “because he needs me.” She finished brokenly. “He needs me.” She repeated and she fell to the floor in tears.

Vlad looked down at the boy in his arms and noted that he was asleep. Quickly and smoothly he transferred the boy to the bed to rest there. When he was sure that Daniel was going to be ok he quickly made his way over to Jasmine and held her tight to chest. The move made her abruptly stop crying. 

“I’m so sorry Jasmine.” Vlad said softly. “I’m so sorry you feel so alone, that you feel responsible for your baby brother, that life is being so cruel to you right now.” He continued solemnly. “I’m sorry.” 

Vlad continued to hold the poor girl as her tears started anew. She wailed into his shirt for a long while, letting all her hurt and frustrations out. With each new sob Vlad couldn’t help but get more furious with her parents. It initially shocked him when he noticed that as much as his own frustration and anger was geared towards Maddie as it was towards Jack. Vlad had heard of postnatal depression before, and while he understood that when the cases arise it just can’t be helped he could not get over his anger at knowing that Maddie could be so heartless. 

“Sometimes I hate him,” Jasmine stated when she was calm enough to form coherent words. “Sometimes I wish he was never born.” She continued. “It wasn’t always like this. Mommy and Daddy loved me. They took care of me. I remember that they would always be there for me. They played with me and told me stories and sang to me.” She cried remembering how it used to be. “But then Danny was born and they left me. They left us. The first few nights that they brought Danny home it was ok, it was like I would imagine any family would be. Danny would cry at night and they would go check on him and hold him and talk to him, but then one day it just changed. 

One day I heard Danny crying for what felt like hours. He just cried and cried and cried so I went to check on him. Mom and dad weren’t around so I went to go get them. They were in the basement working on the ghost portal thing.” Vlad's arms tightened around the girl for a moment and then relaxed, he didn’t interrupt. “I feel like they’ve been working on it forever now.” The girl sighed. “But I told them that Danny needed them, so mom went up stairs with me and she took him out of the crib and handed him to me. She said, ‘Jazzy, you’re a big girl now, would you mind watching Danny for a few moments.’ I was so excited that she trusted me that I said of course.

She went back down to the basement and that’s when it all started. It would be me going to them, one of them going to get Danny out the crib and then asking if I would watch him. They taught me how to feed him, clean him, and change him and then they would just disappear.” The girl said in a warbly voice. “I don’t think they even notice that I’ve bought new baby books to help me learn how to take care of him better or that Danny doesn’t sleep in his room anymore.” She said sadly. 

Vlad got confused for a moment before panicking a bit worried about SIDS. “Where does he sleep?” He asked holding the girl at arms length hoping she did not say in bed with her. 

She stared at him for a moment before sighing and going towards her bed, only to reach down and pull something from underneath. “They had an extra mattress.” Vlad was relatively more relieved to see it. “He doesn’t move much so I just place him on this and he sleeps in here.” She said moving the mattress to a corner of the room where she must obviously place the bed for bedtime. She then went over to the bad and picked up her baby brother and placed him on the mattress. Vlad watched silently as the girl moved about and was pleased to note that the baby didn't wake at all during the transfer. 

Jazz stayed by her brother’s side, just watching him as he slept. Vlad silently made his way over to her. “Jasmine my dear.” Vlad said in the quietest voice he could muster. “I do not wish to separate you from your brother. This I swear to you. But you must understand that the way you are both living now is unacceptable. You are just 3 years old, even if you do act as if you are much older, you are still but a child. You cannot be responsible for your brother as it will do neither of you any good.” 

Jasmine looked at him with tears still in her eyes. “I know,” she whispered. “I know, it just really hurts.” She hiccuped with a new cry. 

“I know, I know dear.” Vlad said solemnly. “But it’s for the best if I take Daniel from here. I promise you that he will have a better life. He will want for nothing. I will protect him, and love him as if he were my own. I promise you this.” 

Jasmine couldn’t help herself and threw her weight on him trying to wrap her small arms around his middle. “You better, you better make sure he’s always happy and never lonely and eats well and takes his baths and play with him and talk to him and just-” she hiccuped again, “just hold him.” she cried.

Vlad gave a small chuckle. “I will my dear they won’t be able to get me to let go of him, ever.” 

They sat there embracing each other in the girls room watching as the small boy slept for a few moments more before Jazz spoke up again. “When are you going to take him?”

“As soon as you wish and not a moment sooner.” He promised. 

“Ok, give me two days.” She said with finality. “I’ll pack all his favorite toys and cloths and things and we can bring him to you wherever you are.” She said. “Do you need anything in particular, the crib, changing table, anything like that?” She asked seriously.

“No Jasmine, I can buy whatever I will need. Actually I already have one of my assistants buying most of what I will need and I just have to finish the Nanny interviews this coming Thursday.” He laughed at Jazz who looked up at him with a scowl on her face.

“Nanny?” She asked. “No, no Nanny’s. They’re mean.” She said with conviction.

Vlad laughed. “I promise I will never pick a mean Nanny for Daniel.” Vlad said with a smile. He felt he was making a lot of promises to this young girl, that wasn’t something he usually did. It was a good thing he planned on keeping them all even without having to promise them to anyone. “Besides I run a very important business, Daniel will need a Nanny for when I’m not available to tend to him. Which probably won't be too often in the beginning for he is still so small, I can take a back seat for a bit and then pick back up in a year or two when Daniel is more than ready to not have me around as often. 

Jazz nodded. “Okay.” She agreed. “As long as the Nanny isn’t mean.”

Vlad smiled and tightened his hold on the girl for a moment. “Of course not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait. I hope it was worth it. Thank you so much for the kudos.   
> Do I actually have zero idea how the actual Social Services work and I would greatly appreciate it if anyone who does would like to leave a review how badly I'm getting it wrong. I greatly enjoy constructive criticism.


	4. "How to Care for Him” with Jazz Fenton

Vlad made his way downstairs a few moments later. His jacket was buttoned up to hide the evidence of Jasmine’s tears and he looked as well put together as he ever did. Vlad walked to the living room and was instantly furious to see that neither Jack nor Madeline were waiting there. While Vlad didn’t find young Jasmin’s story about her parents to be dishonest he actually was ready to give them, mostly Maddie, the benefit of the doubt. 

‘Where the fudgnuggets could they have gone?’ Vlad wondered as he entered the kitchen and still didn’t see the two. He went to look out the back door and was shocked to see drum after drum of ectoplasm. ‘The sooner I get young Daniel out of here the better.’ Vlad thought turning from the sight with a huff. ‘I wonder if it would be possible to get Jasmine as well.’ He thought for a moment before continuing with his task of finding the elder Fenton's.

After searching the whole house Vlad ended up back at young Jasmine’s room. She was playing with a smiling Daniel.

“You’re still here?” She asked curiously.

“Your parents, where are they?” He asked with frustration lacing his voice. “I’ve checked this whole flapjacking house and I can’t find them anywhere.” 

Jasmine laughed at his creative swear. “The basement? That’s where their lab is, and that’s where they spend most of their time.” She answered without missing a beat. 

Vlad thanked her and went to leave but looked back when the small boy made a distressed noise. He was sitting up and making grabby hands at him. 

“He wants to be picked up.” Jazz said giving a sigh and looking at Vlad expectantly. He couldn’t help but smile. Vlad knew that the girl was judging his next move, seeing if he was better than her parents or just the same. He couldn’t help but laugh internally, thinking that there was no way he would act differently towards the child if she was not there. He moved across the room and picked the small boy up smiling at him.

Daniel laughed as Vlad picked him up and tried to grab his face again, but Vlad swung him lightly for fun the move made give a squeal of excitement. Jazz watched as Vlad played with the boy. Swinging him lightly and blowing raspberries at him the seemed to be having the time of his life as the room was filled with his laughter. When Vlad went to put him back down, at the boy’s request, Jasmine stared at him with wide eyes.

“He’s never laughed like that.” She said a bit awed. Vlad just smiled at her not really knowing what to say. 

Daniel made another small noise and held up a block to Vlad. Vlad crouched down and took it from him, not really knowing what to do with it. 

“He wants you to put is on the tower so he can knock it down.” Jasmine said when Vlad didn’t move. Vlad noticed the small tower that Jazz had obviously been making and put the block on top. Daniel laughed again and threw his little arms into the tower making the whole thing fall over which he laughed hysterically about. The boy looked towards Vlad and pointed to the blocks.

“Now stack them back up again.” Jazz said with a smile in her voice. 

“Well he’s quite easy to please, isn’t he.” Vlad said smiling as well and stacking the blocks back up for him. 

Jazz shrugged. “Yeah, he’s still just a baby.” She said as she helped Vlad with the blocks. Together they played with young Daniel for another two hours before he started to get fussy. 

“He’s hungry,” Jazz said picking the boy up. Vlad followed the young girl out of the room and into the kitchen. “You know they actually cleaned up the place up themselves before you came over.” She said trying to make conversation. “Usually this room is a mess. Dished overflow the sink, the fridge could have some really weird things in it, and they like to work on their weapons while they eat and leave them and other parts laying around.” As she spoke she put Danny in his high chair and went to get him something to eat from the fridge. 

“We just started him on solid foods this month.” Jazz explained. “He eats small things like mashed fruits and Cheerios, I tried to give him little bits of eggs yesterday he seemed to like them.” Jazz said with a shrug and pulled out a small jar of baby food. “He can eat this whole jar sometimes, but usually he doesn’t.” She said handing Vlad the jar and a small spoon.

Vlad got the hint quickly and sat across from the boy intending to feed him. Jazz stopped him. “Bib,” She said handing him one, “and burp cloth.” She said handing him that as well. “Trust me, you’ll need them.” With that she sat close by and watched him feed Daniel for the first time, giving him tips on how much to put on the spoon, how to get him to actually take the food more readily, and only after Danny started fussing and flicked food at Vlad’s face did she view it appropriate to tell Vlad that Danny was full and what cues to look for to tell on his own with an amused smile. 

“Yes, very funny young lady.” Vlad said with a smile of his own as he whipped his face of the food. “Now what are you going to eat?” He said seriously looking down at the girl. 

“Umm...well mom and dad will usually cook dinner later.” She stated. “Danny isn’t on that schedule though so I always end up feeding him sooner and then putting him down for a nap while I wait. You might want to bounce him,” she said motioning towards Daniel. “He gets gassy after he eats.” 

Vlad stood and pulled the small boy from the high chair and started bouncing him around. While he was doing that he looked at the clock and took note that it was about 6 o’clock and frowned. “When exactly do your parents come up to start making food?” Vlad questioned. 

Jazz looked towards the clock and sighed. “Around 9.” At that Vlad stopped his bouncing and looked at the small girl. 

“Excuse you?” Vlad asked not believing his ears, “I could have sworn you said around 9.” 

Jazz just gave him a guilty look and nodded. Vlad immediately transferred the burp cloth to Jazz’s small shoulder and handed her Danny, who fussed for a moment. “Hush young man, your sister needs to eat too.” Vlad said getting up to look in the fridge.

Jazz just looked at him in shock. “You don’t need to worry about me,” she said. “I’m not even hungry yet. I’m used to eating late.”

Vlad just shook his head. “No, this is totally unacceptable. You need to eat.” Vlad said while looking to see what the Fenton's had that he could make the girl. Eventually he settled on a simple recipe for chicken alfredo. Which really was not so simple, but Vlad never did things the easy way. As soon as Vlad started cooking Jazz’s stomach made her a liar by giving off a loud groan making her embarrassed and Vlad smug.

“Won’t be much longer,” he said to the small girl. “Just a few more minutes.”

“Thanks,” Jazz said quietly. 

Vlad looked over his shoulder to the small child and smiled. “It’s no bother really.”

Before they knew it Vlad and Jazz were eating the pasta together while Danny was given Cheerios to entertain himself. Well they actually gave them to him to eat, but it was soon viewed as a lost cause as he was only interested in throwing the small cereals at Vlad and his sister. They both laughed at Danny’s cute antics and threw the cereal back at him lightly making the small boy laugh. 

Soon they were cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, Vlad even cleaned the dishes and put them away. “Thank you very much for the food Vlad,” Jasmine said politely. “It was really good, better even than mom’s cooking.”

“Think nothing of it Jasmine,” Vlad stressed. “Well I guess I should say good-bye and see you both in two days.” Vlad said stretching out a kink that was starting to form in his back. 

“No, you can’t leave yet.” Jazz said with a smile. “We have to finish Danny’s routine.” 

“Routine?” Vlad asked looking at the small child curiously. And as if Danny knew they were talking about him he started crying. Jasmine gave Vlad a sly smile and held her brother up to him.

“Yup, routine.” She said walking away when Vlad took the boy. 

As soon as Vlad held the boy he knew what the girl was talking about and held the boy far away from him. The boy’s diaper was soiled and he reeked! Quickly Vlad followed the giggling girl. He guessed this was something he will have to get used to. Instead of leading them to the boys room she instead lead them to the bathroom. 

“I usually take him a bath about this time.” She explained. Usually after dinner he’ll poop and I figure if I have to take off his diaper now anyways why not also just take him a bath too. Besides he is usually messier than this after meals.”

Jazz told Vlad how to change the diaper, which was absolutely disgusting but again if he was going to keep Daniel he would have to get used to it, and then how to give the boy a bath. Which was … amusing as the boy liked to sit in the water and throw it at them. She then had Vlad change him into a new diaper and pjs and then put him to sleep on the sleeping mat in her room.

“And that’s it.” Jazz whispered over the sleeping baby. 

“Well that wasn’t horrible.” Vlad commented making Jazz laugh. 

“Yeah, well Danny’s a good baby.” She said fondly.

Vlad looked her over and grasped her arm lightly, “Because he has such an amazing older sister.” He said resolutely. Jazz smiled lightly at the praise. “Well if that will be all,” Vlad whispered as he stood up. “I really must be going I didn’t plan on spending all day here and I do need to get started in squaring things away for Daniel if you guys are going to bring him over in two days. I will see you later Jasmine.” Vlad said as he walked over and picked up his suit jacket from the floor, he must have taken it off at some point when he was playing with the children earlier. 

Jazz stood up and gave Vlad a quick hug. “Thanks Vlad.” Jazz said as she made her way out of the room and to the bathroom, presumably to wash up and get ready for bed herself. Vlad watched her go for a moment and shook his head. The girl was an interesting one, that was for sure. He couldn’t be happier that he obviously got her on his side about having Daniel stay with him. Granted now that Vlad knew more about their family life he’s not so surprised. The poor girl would probably do anything to get her brother somewhere better for him. 

Scratching his head slightly in thought Vlad moved to put back on his suit jacket. Looking at himself in a hall mirror Vlad made sure he was presentable, which unsurprisingly he was, and made his way down stairs and to the basement. On his way he couldn’t help himself in thinking once more if it would not be worth his while to make sure that he got the girl as well. Jazz was obviously smart, smarter even beyond her years, and her potential was wasted here. Jack and Maddie couldn’t provide for her the way Vlad could. The two children could have everything they would ever need if he was their guardian. He would have to talk with the young girl first before he made any moves to keep her as well, the last thing he would ever want is for her to resent him for making a move that involved her so intimately without her consent. 

Before he knew it Vlad was in front of the basement door. Sighing heavily Vlad opened the door and made his way down to their lab. What greeted him at the bottom of the stairs was disheartening. Yes, Vlad understood the desire to invent, to solve theories, to question the unknown, but these two were taking it a bit too far. 

While Maddie was moving here and there working on a formula of some sort Jack was elbows deep in some sort of contraption, and both were so wrapped up in their own minds that they didn’t even notice Vlad at the foot of the stairs. “Um-Hum!” Vlad coughed trying to gain their attention. Jack looked over and beamed. “Vladdy!” he said in excitement and motioned him over with a swing of his head. “Come over here and help me with something, will yea?” The jovial man requested. 

Vlad tried to hide his disdain from being addressed by the man first and shook his head no, “Sorry Jack, I can’t for I must be heading out, it’s quite late.” 

This made the two scientists look towards a clock. “Oh goodness! Jack it’s 9 o’clock!” Maddie exclaimed. “We need to feed Jazz!” She said as she went to put things away. Vlad got mad at her for not even mentioning that Daniel would have needed to be fed as well, as if she either had already expected Jasmine to have done it for them or “they act like he doesn’t even exist most days” Vlad remembers Jasmine saying that only hours before. 

“Don’t worry about it Madeline,” Vlad says snippily, which partially surprised him for he never thought he would ever talk to Maddie in such a tone before. “Young Jasmine is off to bed, I cooked her something to eat earlier.” 

Maddie looked at Vlad with relief. “Thank you so much Vlad.” She said with a small smile, which put Vlad off. It was almost annoying how she could be so grateful to him because she forgot all about her own children. 

“Think nothing of it.” Vlad said dismissively. “Now I really must be going Vlad said waving over his shoulder and the Fenton's got back to work. “See you in two day?” He said. 

“Two, days?” Maddie asked perplexed. “What happens in two day?”

“In two days you will bring Daniel to me.” Vlad said flatly. “I’ll be at the Grand Hotel, I’ll be sure to tell the front desk I will be expecting visitors.” 

“Okay Vlad, see you there.” Jack said distractedly already back at work on whatever contraption he was working on, while Maddie continued to work on her own project and didn't even acknowledge his statement. Neither of them really paid much attention to him, and neither asked further questions. They both just worked. If Vlad hadn’t of gone to college with the two of them he would have guessed the work was stress related, but knowing them as he does he wouldn’t be surprised if this was how they usually were.

“Very good,” Vlad said with a roll of his eyes. “See you then.” 

And with that Vlad left.


	5. Safeties and Concerns

**Chapter 5: Safeties and Concerns**

Vlad sat in the impromptu nursery he had the room attendants set up, thinking. 

Not thinking anything in particular really, just thinking. Well that was a bit of a lie as he was thinking of the Fentons, but the thoughts were very scattered. One moment he would be thinking about what a fool Jack was/is, the next how beautiful Maddie was, then to how surprising it was to learn that she obviously had postnatal depression, he sure couldn’t think of any other reason for he to be so neglectful to her own children, which then brought him down a dizzying spiral of how lucky he was that she was with Jack and nothing more came from any sense of a relationship Vlad had with her.

“What a horrible thought to have.” Vlad muttered aloud to himself putting a hand over his eyes and leaning back in a plush glider that was set up in the baby room. For years Vlad was convinced that Jack had stolen Maddie from him, he lived with the thought and it helped ground him and get through the worst moments of his life. At some points during his hell he fantasized about him and Maddie raising the perfect little duplicates of Jazz and Danny themselves, and Jack’s head would be over a mantel. But now after one visit to the Fenton household all these years later, Vlad couldn’t help but be disgusted by the delusion. It was obvious to him now that Maddie wasn’t the women he wanted, she never really was. 

She was just as obsessed as Jack about ghosts, and while Vlad always found spectres and the inventions that the three of them would work on interesting he never really was obsessed with ghosts like the two of them were. 

Now that Vlad was half ghost himself he started researching ghosts more than he ever did before. Learning new things about them and gaining a better understanding of what he could potentially do himself and what he kinds of ghosts he could encounter. The studying has helped him a lot with his new form but to say he was obsessed? No, not truly. 

No what he could say he was obsessed with was ruining Jack’s life, just as the buffoon had ruined Vlad’s. But even that, after the visit with the Fentons, seemed to lack some of its previous glamour. Yes, he still wanted to destroy Jack, and on some level he would find great pleasure in removing his head from the rest of his massive body, but after seeing Jack and Maddie he noted that the notion wasn’t nearly as appealing anymore. At least not in the same way. Instead his obsession to destroy Jack himself had morphed into a plan to destroy the eldest Fentons together. 

Vlad saw the way Maddie looked at him, almost studied him, after he had inadvertently told them that he had stayed in the hospital for two years. She was curious in the only way her scientifically curious mind could be. There was no doubt in Vlad’s mind that if Madeline would have been around at the time, and if she could have gotten to him the way the other doctors had, she would have been standing next to them scalpel in hand. Taking apart his hands watching as they healed themselves. Forcing him to transform-

Groaning Vlad leaned forward and grabbed his face as the images assaulted him. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, held his breath and counted to ten, then did it again until he was calmer. Yes, there was no doubt that Maddie would have been of no help during his time of need and with that realization he knew that she was truly no better than Jack. He never understood why he thought she was. Jack wasn’t the only one who left him behind, she did too. While Jack had a special place in his dreams of revenge for seemingly stealing Maddie away, the affection that they showed to one another reminded Vlad that it takes two to tango and they had children to prove it. Maddie wasn’t just some innocent bystander while Vlad was being tortured, she also claimed to have been his friend, she also never came to visit him, so why should she be exempt from his revenge? 

She shouldn’t.

And Vlad had the perfect plan to ruin both their lives. He would take their children and they would never see them again. Yes, detaching one's head from one’s body would be easier, cleaner even in a legal sense as Vlad is technically both the children's Godfather and it wouldn’t be too hard to gain custody over the children after their parents untimely demise. But to know that both Jack and Maddie were alive and miserable while he took care of their only children. The thought was too sweet to pass up. 

It’s not like they deserve those children anyways.

Jasmine was so smart, as smart as her mother and retained no inkling of her father's idiocy. She was responsible, well rounded for a three year old, and obviously had a gift for compassion and understanding. Vlad couldn’t think of a better protege even if he wanted to. The girl would be able to take the world by the horns if she was just given the right amount of encouragements and resources, and Vlad could be the one to give her that. He would be more than happy to give her that.

Then there was Daniel who was an angle. The moment he saw the boy he knew he had to have him. Vlad didn’t know what it was but there was something about the small child, something different that just screamed Vlad needed to have him. Vlad wanted the boy to look upon him always as he had that day; with curious aw and plain joy. Vlad wanted to hold the boy always, play with him, teach him, take care of him, and to always just be there for him. He wanted the boy to grow with him and to love him as his father and they could be a family. All three of them a happy family with no worries in this world.

The thought brought a happy smile to Vlad’s face.

\---------**********----------

The next day had Vlad going to Miss. Wattertucken’s office. He had received a phone call from her office just that morning asking if he had a moment to meet with her. Vlad was more than happy to comply, it was time to set the wheels in motion for Vlad’s small family dream to become a reality.

Walking into the reception office Vlad saw a small woman with a pixie haircut filing her nails. “Mr. Masters, here for a meeting with Miss. Wattertucken.” Vlad told her, keeping any thoughts he had about the woman's unprofessionalism to himself. 

Picking up a phone the woman quickly dialed a phone number, “Miss. Wattertucken,” The woman said politely, “a Mr. Masters is here to see you. … Ok I’ll bring him to you.” Smoothly the woman stood up. “Follow me please.” She said and walked over to a side door which lead to a long hallway with about ten doors on either side. As they walked by Vlad noticed through the offices side windows that all the offices seemed to belong to different social workers, some were talking to what looked like parents, others were on the phone, and all of them had mountains of papers surrounding them. ‘Overworked and underpaid.’ Couldn’t help but cross Vlad’s mind.

Five doors down they stopped and the receptionist knocked lightly. “Enter.” Was heard from the other side and the receptionist swiftly opened the door and walked in motioning towards Vlad. “Mr. Masters, ma’am.” She said politely.

“Thank you Victoria.” Miss Wattertucken said and motioned Vlad to take a seat across from her. Victoria quietly left closing the door behind her as Vlad sat down. “One moment, please.” Miss. Wattertucken said to Vlad as she finished up signing dome documents. 

As he waited Vlad couldn’t help but study the small woman. She was obviously very involved with her work. The mountains of documents and files strewn about her office, some opened others with various post-it notes on them, was proof enough of that. Yet the woman was very professional looking, it wouldn’t surprise Vlad if she took her job very seriously. Vlad also noted a family picture on her desk of herself, a man, and what must be her two daughters so Vlad concluded that she must care for the children that she oversaw. 

As she finished signing the documents she snapped shut the file she was working in and deliberately put the file down in a specific pile telling Vlad that while her office looked to be in disarray Miss. Wattertucken probably knew where everything was. “Mr. Masters,” She started as she went to a different pile and started rummaging around for a moment. “It’s so good of you to come in.” She said as she made a small sound of accomplishment as she pulled out the file she was obviously looking for. “When the Fentons said that you were coming all the way from Wisconsin I couldn’t help but worry you wouldn’t be able to make it, and with how the Fenton’s house is at the moment I couldn’t help but worry for young Daniel. I would hate to have to put him in a foster home while we worked this out.” She said as she sat back down and focused on Vlad.

“It’s no bother at all.” Vlad said politely. “I must admit, I partially agreed in order to meet my godchildren, I haven't had a chance to come see them yet.” Vlad emphasized leaving out the fact that he didn’t even know he had godchildren until he got the call from Jack a few nights ago.

“Well that’s good, you must be a very busy man being the CEO of Vlad Co. was it?” Miss. Wattertucken asked hypothetically as she looked over a paper with Vlad’s information on it. 

Vlad gave her a skeptical eye wondering where she got what looked like a lot of his information from. “Yes,” He said slowly, “Did Jack and Madeline tell you this?” He asked trying to not give off his unease.

“Well truthfully I had asked them a lot of these questions when they first told me you would be able to take Daniel,” Miss. Wattertucken stated, “But it seemed that they didn’t have much information to give other than you were a long time college friend. Seemed quite odd to me that they would want to give their baby to a man that they seemed to know so little about.” She explained. “So I wanted to look into you myself. I was quite pleased to see so much information on you so quickly.” She said laughing lightly. 

“Yes, well it’s quite hard to keep a low profile when you own a company that is making a big splash,” Vlad acknowledged. 

“Yes, granted I would be most pleased if you wouldn’t mind officially filling out a form yourself.” She said pulling out a blank form that looked like the one in front of her, a clipboard, and a pen. “It’s just some basic information like your SS#, contact information, work details, stuff like that.” 

“Of course,” Vlad agreed as he started to quickly fill out the forms as Miss. Wattertucken went over the Fentons file, pulling out papers here and there and reading over others. When Vlad was finished he handed it back. “Here you are Miss. Wattertucken.” He said. 

“Dolores, please Mr. Masters.” She said as she took the paper and put it into the file. 

“Dolores then,” He rectified.

“Now Mr. Masters, it’s my understanding that you haven't seen the Fentons in five years, is that correct?” Vlad gave her a sheepish look.

“Yes, well I’m sorry to say that we seemed to have lost touch after college.”

“Was that before or after your two year stay at the GW Center?” Dolores asked looking at some notes she pulled out.

Vlad gave a small shudder at the mention of the hospital he stayed at, but kept his composure. “After.” He answered smoothly. “Would you mind telling me how you found that information? I was under the impression that there was a fire.” Vlad said smoothly. Honestly, the notion that Dolores had any knowledge of his stay at GW was a mystery as he thought he had gotten rid of all information of his stay there. A few months after he had recovered from the experience Vlad had gone back as a ghost and killed the people directly involved with his torture, destroyed their files on him, and then burned the building to the ground. He had thought that doing so would have gotten rid of all information that he was ever involved with the place in any way. Later he would have mixed feeling about destroying his own medical file instead of keeping it. It could have had interesting information about his condition, but the other part of himself that was glad he destroyed the file knew that he would have never of been able to look at it even if he had kept it.

“Ah yes,” Dolores exclaimed looking equal parts pleased and equally parts flustered, “there was a fire there years ago but it seemed that the hospital was in the process of turning all their files digital at the time. The lady on the phone I got in contact with was ecstatic to tell me how she was one of the interns working there before the fire and how yours was lucky enough to be one of the firsts on the new system. She was going on and on about it for quite a while. Apparently your case was quite famous and helped the center go in a new direction over the years.” Dolores explained. “I believe she said something about Guys in White? I’m not a hundred percent sure, the woman was taking up so much of my time and I really had to get off the phone.” Dolores concluded while Vlad's stomach seemed to have flipped in on itself. 

The mere idea that his files were still out there somewhere filled him with unease. He was going to have to look into what state his file was in. Was it the whole file or was it just some? And what was this about the Center going in a new direction? What, a direction in how to torture people? And finally who were the Guys in White, he’s never heard of them before? But all that would have to wait.

“Well that’s … news.” Vlad stated stiffly. “I was under the impression that all information about my stay there was destroyed.” 

“Well luckily for both of us it wasn’t.” Dolores said smiling. “I needed a confirmation that you were in fact there and I got it. Now, you haven’t seen the Fentons since then, can I ask you how you ended up meeting the Fentons?”

“Yes, well,” Vlad started trying to refocus on the matter at hand and relax a bit. “I’ve known Jack since freshman year of college and I met Maddie after we started our ghost hunting club at the school.”

“Ghost hunting club?” Dolores asked curiously. “Do you believe in ghosts as well, Mr. Masters?” 

Vlad couldn’t help giving the woman a toothy grin, “Of course I believe in ghosts Mrs. Wattertucken.” Vlad couldn’t help laughing to himself, if only she knew. “But I must admit I was never quite a fanatic as the Fentons were.” Vlad stated shaking his head trying to convey dismay. “I went to their house yesterday, to see the children, and I must admit I was very dismayed over their behavior, not to mention the drums of ectoplasm everywhere, and the ghost weaponry.” Vlad gave a another shake of his head in a small tut-tut motion. “Truly the Fentons have taken their obsession a little too far.” Vlad watched as Dolores scribbled something on a piece of paper out of sight. He didn’t need to see it to know that one, if not both, the implications he brought to the forefront didn’t sit well with Dolores. 

“Did you see the ghost weaponry Mr. Masters?” Dolores asked seriously. It didn’t surprise Vlad that the weapons would be the obvious cause for concern to Dolores. 

“Well I must admit it was hard to miss.” Vlad acknowledged. “Poor Jasmine was telling me how they kept the weapons and pieces strewn about the kitchen most days.” While not quite a lie, as Vlad had seen weapons, but Dolores didn’t need to know that they were in the basement, and Jazz had told him about her parents habits, Vlad knew that Dolores would infer he had seen all this in the Kitchen and as her original report seemed to indicate within reach of the children. “I must ask was it true that you had found 108 drums of ectoplasm in the household?” Vlad asked seriously. “I saw a few drums in the living room and a bunch in the yard, but a 108 drums seems a bit excessive.” 

Dolores was writing more down and paused to look at Vlad. “Yes, I had a team go in to take some samples of the ectoplasm and to count all the drums. Tell me Mr. Master, you worked with Mr. and Mrs. Fenton for a while, do you know anything about ectoplasm?”

Vlad tilted his head in acknowledgment. “I’m sure I know just about as much as they do.” Vlad started. “Seeing as we experimented with it quite a few times. Once Jack ate about an ounce of the stuff just to prove he could.” Vlad laughed slightly putting on airs of him reminiscing about good times. “We were kids at the time, it was all in good fun. He lived through the ordeal granted he did get quite sick. Although … Miss. Wattertucken, I must ask how much information did you gather about my condition while I was at the GW Center?” Vlad asked again with a serious tone to his voice. 

Dolores looked at him curiously. “Not very much other than the fact that you went there, why?”

Vlad looked thoughtful for a moment before he continued on. “Miss. Wattertucken, the reason I was a guest at the GW Center was because I was hit by a blast of ectoplasm to the face. You see we were running an experiment to see if we could open a portal to a place we ghost hunters call the ghost zone, basically it would have been a portal to another dimension.” Vlad explained trying to make sure it was dumbed down enough for Dolores to follow. “On the night that we were to try our first attempt to open the ghost portal there was an accident and a blast of pure ectoplasm shot out of the machine and hit me. I suffered from something we called Ecto-Acne, which was a disfigurement to my face for many months before I became very ill. 

Miss. Wattertucken it’s very important that you understand that I almost died from that experiment.” Vlad continued staring Dolores down. “I was in the hospital for two years in intense pain, my body went through a metamorphosis of sorts and while I may look well today at the time of the ordeal I was on death's door. When I talked to them yesterday it seemed to me that Madeline and Jack don’t seem to think that there is anything wrong with keeping drums of ectoplasm around, peddling that the substance is safe, but I must emphasis my experience Miss. Wattertucken. Ectoplasm is not safe.” Vlad finished his epilog trying to convey that he was a concerned godfather only looking out for his god children's well being. He was pleased to note that Dolores slowly and deliberately wrote down a note that Vlad thought looked suspiciously like, ‘Not Safe.’

“Well Mr. Masters,” Dolores stated, “thank you so much on your insight on the matter. Now, I must ask when do you plan on taking young Daniel into your care?” 

“The Fentons agreed to bring him over tomorrow, I’m staying at the Grand Hotel in the President's Suit and young Daniel already has a room setup for his stay.”

“And how long do you plan on staying?” Dolores implored. “I know you have an important business to run.”

Vlad waved off her concerns, “I will be staying for as long as the matter takes to resolve itself.” Vlad explained. “I have the week off, and then I’m going to be hiring a Nanny for the day to day stuff and doing my job remotely until we are through. It’s no trouble at all I assure you.” 

Dolores nodded encouragingly. “Well, I’m going to have to run a background check on you but that should not take more than a few moments,” Dolores said as she grabbed some papers and handed them to Vlad. “If you wouldn’t mind reading these over and signing in the already highlighted areas that would be great, they’re just some legal documents stating that you will be taking young Daniel for the time being until the investigation is over. Any questions?” 

“Yes actually one, shouldn’t I watch over young Jazmin as well for the time being?” Vlad implored curiously. “She seems quite attached to Daniel and I would hate to separate the two.” 

Dolores looked conflicted for a moment. “I agree that young Jazz seems very attached to her brother.” Dolores agreed as she typed some information pertaining to Vlad’s background check into a computer. “But you see, we like to try and keep families together while they are under investigation. The goal is to see if the parents will be able to take care of the children effectively. While I will agree that the ectoplasm throughout the house is concern enough to remove Daniel from the household I do wish to keep Jazz with the Fantons to prove that they can indeed take care of the children, so it would be wiser to keep her where she is while we moved Daniel.” Dolores explained.

Vlad gave a bit of a scowl at the explanation. “While I understand Miss. Wattertucken, I must insist that if it’s not safe for Daniel then why would it possibly be safe for Jasmine?” 

Dolores gave Vlad a pointed stare, “Mr. Masters I know that the Fentons are your friends,” Vlad had to hold back a snort at that. “But I must admit that when I had the fortune of visiting the family the experience was very … lackluster.” 

Intrigued by her perspective of the situation Vlad asked her to continue, “In what way?”

“Well the first time I went there I noticed that young Jazz seemed to be the primary caretaker of her younger brother. She ended up babysitting the baby for a total of three hours while I walked through the house with Mr. and Mrs. Fenton.”

“Seems to me that just makes her a good sister,” Vlad countered playing devil's advocate for the moment. 

“Yes, a very good sister. But it is not healthy for a three year old to be in charge of such a large burden. And it is also not a sign of a healthy family life for the parents to be so accepting of the situation. By the end of my visits I had concluded young Jazz knew more about Daniel and took more time out her day to care for the boy than either of her parents seemed to, combined. Mrs. Fenton didn’t know what kind of food the baby like, Mr. Fenton didn’t know how to put the boy to sleep, young Jazz had the baby monitor and neither parent seemed to have a care that both of them didn’t have one in any room that they inhabited. Mr. Masters the Fentons were downright neglectful of their son and Jazz is no older than three herself and should not be taking care of a baby.” Dolores finished looking a bit frazzled.

“I’m gathering that it seems you want to give the young girl a break of sorts,” Vlad said intrigued and a bit amused.

“Well I guess you could say that, yes.” Dolores affirmatively. “She should not be the sole caretaker of her brother, and maybe with their son actually being gone from the household it will help the Fentons get their priorities straightened out.”

“You think I will take better care of this child than his own parents did?” Vlad joked lightly. 

Dolores smiled slightly and shook her head, “Well you can’t do much worse,” she stated. “And beside it looks like your background check is cleared, Mr. Fenton has a misdemeanor for breaking and entering, so I guess you are already doing better.”

Vlad laughed lightly, “Yes the buffoon got caught trying to enter a house he was convinced was haunted, almost scared an old woman who lived there out of her skin.” Vlad looked back down at the papers he was expected to sign. “So young Jasmine will not be joining me?” Vlad clarified.

“No, she will not.” Dolores said shaking her head. “We want to see if her parents are trying to provide a loving home for her and her brother.”

“And if they do not prove themselves worthy?” Vlad asked curiously.

“We’ll see what happens when that time comes.” Dolores said sadly. “Now unless you have anymore questions, would you please sign the documents?” 

Vlad gave Dolores a moment's glance before signing the papers he needed to and then handing them over. Dolores looked over the paperwork before nodding. “Well all seems to be in order.” She said approvingly. “If you wouldn’t mind calling me after Daniel is all settled in tomorrow that would be great. Thank you so much Mr. Masters for taking this on.” Dolores stood and held out her hand to Vlad.

“Anything to help out some old friends.” Vlad said smoothly also standing to shake Mrs. Dolores’ hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small note: I'm not really all that good with keeping up with the stories I create. Hopefully this one will be different, but in case this is the only chapter here, thank you so much for reading.


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